Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Born on 24 February 1890at Halkett on the north-western outskirts of Christchurch, Canterbury, John Gordon McCallum was the second son of the
Reverend Neil McCallum and his second wife, Janet Anderson (nee Dods). An older brother, Neil Brodie
McCallum (known as Brodie), had been born two years earlier, in 1888. He had two younger siblings as well - Kenneth Stuart, b. 1894, and Margaret (Maggie), b. 1897. [1]

Reverend
McCallum was a Presbyterian minister, born in Campbelltown, Argyllshire,
Scotland, in 1840. After studying at Glasgow University and Heidelberg
University in Germany, he commenced his ministry in 1869. In June, 1872, he was appointed to New Zealand as a probationer by the
Colonial Committee of the Free Church of Scotland. Accompanied by his new wife, Janet Scott (nee Moffatt), he took ship from Greenock two months later on the "Helen Burns", arriving at Port Chalmers, New Zealand, 2 December, 1872. He was ordained on March 5, 1873, at St James Presbyterian Church, Wellington Street, Auckland, then served as an itinerant Minister in the Whanganui/South Taranaki area. It was demanding work, requiring both faith and fortitude as he travelled by foot or horseback through difficult country, without roads or bridges, to do the rounds of his widely scattered flock. His ministry in New Zealand ranged
from Patea, Waverley and Hawera to Cust and Oxford. On 30 August 1874, just seventeen months after their arrival, his wife Janet died at the age of 28 in Patea, South Taranaki. In April, 1877, Reverend McCallum transferred to Canterbury. He began holding regular services at Oxford and Cust and also preached to small congregations at View Hill, Carleton, West Eyreton and Stoke. His parishioners initially gathered together in schoolrooms, Road Board offices and private homes, but Presbyterian churches at Oxford and Cust and a manse for the minister had been built by 1886 [2] when Reverend McCallum took a two year break and travelled back to Scotland, first stopping in London where he remarried at the Regent Square Presbyterian Church on 3 June, 1886,to Janet Anderson Dods. Eldest daughter of Scottish pharmacist John Thomas Dods and his wife, Margaret (nee Black), Janet was born at Anderson's Bay, Dunedin, in 1864. After his return to New Zealand in 1888, Rev. McCallum held the Halkett Presbyterian Charge (Kirwee, Kimberley and Darfield) until his retirement in 1897.

[3]

Reverend Neil MCallum and his first wife, Janet Scott Moffatt

Taken around July, 1872, just before the newly-weds set out for New Zealand

Gordon McCallum was educated at Addington Public School School, Christchurch Boys’ High School and
at Canterbury College, where he studied law. His family lived for much of that time at 38 Jerrold Street in the Christchurch suburb of Spreydon, quite close to the Adddington School. An all-rounder, Gordon took a keen
interest in sport, especially rugby. The boy named "Gordon" for the hero of Khartoum thrived on tales of adventure and military derring-do at exotic, far-flung outposts of Empire, and was a dedicated member of first the Junior and then the Senior Cadets, being captain of the Christchurch
Boys’ High School cadets in his final year there. While at university he obtained a commission as a lieutenant in the Christchurch City
Rifles Volunteers. He held this commission for four years, resigning when he left Christchurch for Motueka.[4]

Motueka Mounted Rifles outside the Nelson Provincial Buildings

Upon
taking employment as an intern with Motueka law firm Easton & Nicholson in 1911 [5] Gordon joined
the Motueka Mounted Rifles, again holding a commission as lieutenant and being later
promoted to captain. [6] The Motueka Mounted Rifles comprised “D” Squadron of the 10th (Nelson) Mounted Rifles Regiment of the NZ Territorial Defence Force as formed in March, 1911, and was commanded by Motueka’s hard-working medical practitionerDr Henry Deck, a Boer
War veteran. Gordon McCallum was described as ”a general favourite with all” and
was noted at the time by his superiors in the Territorial Defence Force as being
“a promising young officer”.

When
war broke out, Gordon’s brother Brodie, an accounting clerk with Dalgety & Co, joined
up straightaway as a trooper with the Canterbury Mounted Rifles and sailed from
Wellington with the Main Body of the NZ Expeditionary Force on 16 October, 1914. [7] So did Gordon's soon-to-be brother-in-law, Arthur Lake Batchelor.

Arthur Lake Batchelor, John McCallum's brother-in-law.

Gordon McCallum delayed a bit, so he could sit the final examination required for him to qualify as a practising solicitor,
which he duly passed. He then enlisted on 11 December, 1914, trained at Trentham, and along with Dr Deck's son, Robin (Bob) Deck, was commissioned as a lieutenant with the 10th (Nelson) Squadron of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles on 11 February, 1915. They embarked for Alexandria on the
“Maunganui” on 14 February, 1915, with the Third Reinforcements of the NZEF. The Auckland, Wellington, Otago and Canterbury Mounted Rifles were all incorporated into the NZ Mounted Rifles Brigade. Gordon was farewelled at the wharf by his mother and his bride of just three days' standing. On 11 February, 1915, the same day as he received his commission and while still based at Trentham, Gordon had married Lorrie Maud Batchelor at the Kent Terrace Presbyterian Church in Wellington. The witnesses were a Lieutenant Bell from Trentham Camp and Mary Hobhouse Chatfield, second wife of Wellington architect, William Charles Chatfield.[8]

Lorrie McCallum nee Batchelor (1887-1958)

Believed to have been taken on the occasion of her wedding to Gordon McCallum.

Lorrie, born on Christmas Day 1887, was the only daughter in a family of six and had five brothers - Ray, Arthur, Clarence, Jack and Athol. Her father was Lower Moutere
farmer and carrier Frederick Craven (Fred) Batchelor. As part of his operations he bought the 26 ton twin-screw steamer "Lily", which he used between 1893 and 1905 to transport passengers and freight to and from Nelson and Motueka. Lorrie's mother was Elizabeth (Lizzie) nee Kerr. Elizabeth and her sister Margaret were the twin daughters of Upper Buller pioneer and run-holder, John Kerr of "Lake Station" on the shores of Lake Rotoiti.The twins married brothers Fred and Henry (Sam) Batchelor, sons of entrepreneurial settler Thomas Charles Batchelor, who arrived in Nelson in 1848 on the "Bernicia". Lorrie, who was named "Maud" for her aunt Maud Rankin (nee Kerr), grew up on the family farm and attended Lower Moutere School. At that time it was under the stewardship of headmaster, Lockhart Easton, who later qualified as a lawyer, set up a law firm in Motueka, and later employed Gordon McCallum. Horses were always part of her life - her father ran up to 32 on his property as part of his extensive cartage business - and Lorrie was an accomplished horsewoman, winning the Ladies' and Gentlemen's jumping competition at the Nelson Show in October 1912. It's very likely that Lorrie and John McCallum met through her brothers, Arthur Lake Batchelor, who was a mate and fellow member of the Motueka Mounted Rifles, and Clarence, who played rugby for Motueka's Whakarewa rugby team with Gordon.[9] Clarence and younger brother, Athol Rotoiti (Roto) Batchelor, were both on the NZEF Reserve List, but weren't called upon to serve. Robin Deck
also married just before leaving New Zealand, to local girl Mabel Skinner. He
would be killed at Gallipoli on August 28, 1915.

"Dominion", 16 February, 1915: Social & Personal

Note: "Lorrie" was the bride's proper name and not short for "Laura".

O n 26 March, 1915, the Third Reinforcements arrived at Zeitoun camp near Cairo. Gordon McCallum was put in charge of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles' Depot Squadron [10] and managed to catch up with his brother Brodie and brother-in-law, Arthur. The rugged terrain at Gallipoli not being suited to horses, they were left behind in Egypt, and the men of the 10th (Nelson) Squadron fought on foot as part of the Canterbury Machine Gun Section.They landed at Anzac Cove on the 12th of May and Gordon was soon involved in fighting at Walker’s
Ridge and elsewhere at Gallipoli. In a
letter sent home to his wife Lorrie, Gordon McCallum described the successful
capture by the 10th (Nelson) Squadron of a Turkish machine gun creating havoc among the Allied troops at
Bauchop’s Hill, early in August, 1915, during the Sari Bair offensive. The 10th incurred several losses, including popular
member, Alan de Castro. Around the same time Gordon McCallum’s brother Brodie, who was also at Bauchop's Hill, received a crippling wound to his ankle which put him out of the war for good. He was evacuated to hospital at Heliopolis, Cairo, on 14 August, 1915, and invalided to New Zealand on the "Willochra" in September. Once back home he was discharged from active service on 20 January, 1916.

[11] The desperate struggle to take the commanding heights of Gallipoli cost the Canterbury Mounted Rifles dearly - in just four months they suffered more than half of the total casualties they incurred throughout the duration of WWI.

"The Battle of Chunuk Bair, 8 August, 1915", by Ion B. Brown

Gordon McCallum’s account of the 10th (Nelson) Squadron’s action at Gallipoli was
published firstly in the “Motueka Star” and then the Nelson “Colonist” and can
be read here:

McCallum was himself wounded at Gallipoli on August 21, 1915, and
evacuated via Mudros on the island of Lemnos to the Royal Free Hospital in
London, England. He was granted furlough while he recovered and made full use
of this time for a spot of tourism, travelling all over England and the British
Isles and no doubt visiting ancestral grounds in Scotland along the way.
Meanwhile, back home, Lorrie was playing her oart for the war effort. At the
end of July 1915 she could be found manning the Mounted Rifles stall at a
Motueka fund-raiser for Sick and Wounded Soldiers and in June 1916 serving as
Assistant Secretary for Motueka's Red Cross Branch, which was busy making up
care packages for men at the Front. [12]

In December, 1915, Gordon McCallum returned to service with the NZ
Mounted Rifles in Egypt. The NZMR became part of a new Anzac Mounted Division, whose brief was to prevent any Turkish access to the Suez Canal. (In April 1917 the ANZAC Mounted Divison came under the overall command of Major General Edward Walter Clervaux Chaytor. Born in Motueka, he was the only New Zealander to ever exercise command of an ANZAC force at a divisional level).For much of
the time in the earlier part of 1916 the new Division was mostly engaged in
desert patrols, enlivened by odd skirmishes with an elusive enemy, but things heated up as the year went on, beginning with the Battle of Romani on 4-5 August, 1916. [13]

Formed in January, 1916, the Imperial Camel Corps began by trialing long-range patrols conducted by small camel-mounted units around the
Suez Canal and the Sinai Desert, and grew organically as its usefulness became more apparent. Six British
Yeomanry companies were added in March and four companies of Australian Light
Horsemen in June. By mid-year, the decision had been made to use the ICC as camel-mounted
infantry in a combat role as part of the Egyptian Expeditionary
Force - although they travelled by camelback, the men of the ICC fought on
foot. Two companies of New Zealanders seconded from NZ Mounted Rifles
Brigade reinforcements were among men from all over the British Empire who
joined the expanded Imperial Camel Corps. John McCallum was gazetted a captain in July 1916 (his commission being confirmed in November 1916) and in August he was transferred as O.C. to the newly-formed
15th (NZ) Company of the Imperial Camel Corps. [14] "Sorry as the Regiment was to lose him, it
was a well-earned promotion", remarked Colonel C.G. Powles later. "McCallum led his
company with conspicuous success until he fell, mortally wounded, at Rafah, six
months later". Powles clearly held Gordon McCallum in high regard, describing him elsewhere as "a very keen and efficient young officer" and "a brilliant commander". [15] A second
NZ company, the 16th, was added to the ICC in November, 1916.

Officers of the 15th (NZ) Company of the Imperial Camel Corps

Captain John Gordon McCallum (seated) centre.

During his time with the 15th Company Gordon McCallum kept his camera at hand, and a selection of the photographs he took in Egypt and the Sinai can be seen below at the website set up by his grand-nephew, Wayne McCallum. These show that when off-duty, Gordon McCallum and hs fellow officers went sight-seeing and enjoyed a civilized social life in Cairo and Alexandria. They took tea at the Piazza of the opulent Grand Continental Hotel in Cairo and patronised the NZ Canteen at the Diggers' Tel el Kebir training camp "run by Miss Ettie Rout of Christchurch and some NZ ladies - it is a great success". McCallum had a good deal of admiration for Ettie Rout and her efforts to improve life for the Anzac soldiery.

In December, 1916, the ICC became the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade, which comprised four rotating battalions, with one always back at base in Abbassia on the outskirts of Cairo, resting the animals and repairing equipment. Although Captain McCallum's military record places him with the 4th (Anzac) Battalion, in practice the 15th (NZ) Company shifted around between the 1st, 3rd and 4th Battalions of the ICCB as required.After
completing its intensive training at Abbassia, the 15thCompany trekked
across country to Kantara, and then over theSinai Desert to link up
with the main body of the Camel Corps at Mazar in December, the day before the
army advanced on El Arish. The fort of El
Arish was taken without a fight, but they were soon in the thick of it on 21
December, 1916, during the Battle of Magdahaba[16]. Gordon Mc Callum's family later received a letter containing his personal account of events at El Arish and Magdahaba, which was published in the "Sun" on 6 March 1917 under the heading "Looking for Abdul". Although several men of the 15thCompany were left wounded, Magdahaba was successfully won with a relative ease that left the Imperial troops unprepared for
the ferocity of the Turkish defence during the Battle of Rafah which followed
in January, 1917.

"Camel Corps at the Battle of Magdhaba", by H. Septimus Power

Gordon McCallum was fatally wounded at
Rafah on the afternoon of January the 9th, and died two days later on the 11th of January, 1917.

“The 15th (NZ)
Camel Company was transferred from the 4th Battalion to the 1st Battalion in
January 1917 and took part in this action as a unit of that body. The men
dismounted under shell fire some three and a half miles from the enemy
position, and the 15th Company advanced as the first wave of the Battalion's
attack. The whole of the Camel Brigade present had been thrown into the attack,
and the troops, during the day, attempted to work their way forward by crawling
or by making short rushes over the bare level ground. By 2 p.m. the advance was
held up by severe rifle and machine-gun fire, and the position was being
enfiladed from concealed positions on the right. During this advance, the 15th
Company lost its popular O.C. ["Officer Commanding"], Captain J.G.
McCallum, who had been in command of the Company since its formation." [17]

His popularity as an officer is attested by the grief with which the news of his death was greeted by the Cameliers.

"We passed questions along the line to find out
how other companies were faring. We were told that Captain McCallum of No. 15 (New
Zealand) Company had been wounded some hours earlier while leading his men
forward. There were many willing hands prepared to risk the whining bullets to
get him back to the rear where the Red Cross men could attend to him. Tenderly
he was placed on a stretcher; but the Angel of Death hovered over it. He
lingered for two days. There were tear-dimmed eyes in No. 15 Company when the
New Zealanders heard he was dead."

Arthur Batchelor, Gordon McCallum's brother-in-law,
didn't make it either - he died of wounds received in Palestine on 27th November, 1917, while fighting with the NZ
Mounted Rifles at Ramleh, site of several 12th century battles between the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Fatamid Egyptians. [19]Arthur's war
mirrored Gordon's to some extent. He left New Zealand on 16 October, 1914, travelling on the "Athenic"
with the 10th (Nelson) Squadron of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles Brigade, as part
of the Main Body of the NZ Expeditionary Force. He was promoted to Corporal, and fought during the campaign on Gallipoli where he was wounded. Evacuated to England, he spent time in hospital, followed by recuperation leave. He became ill and was readmitted to
hospital, but was eventually posted back to Egypt, where he took part in the NZ
Mounted Rifles Sinai-Palestine campaign.[20] During this
time he would probably have been in regular contact with Gordon McCallum, as the Anzac Mounted Division and the Imperial Camel Corps frequently supported each other during various engagements. It was the NZ Mounted Rifles who made the pivotal breakthrough at Rafah, just as the Allied forces were about to retreat. Arthur Batchelor's headstone is at the Ramleh War Cemetery, today in Israel, and he is commemorated at the Motueka War Memorial along with Gordon McCallum.

Captured in action.Tne NZ Mounted Rifles' charge that won the day at Rafah.

Upon his return to Christchurch, Gordon’s brother Brodie McCallum became a founding member of the Christchurch Returned Servicemen’s
Association, and served for a time as its Secretary. He took up his old
position as an accountant for Dalgety & Co in Christchurch, later moving to
Greymouth and Blenheim while continuing to work for the same company. He settled in Blenheim, where he lived for many years, dying there in 1972. He lies in the RSA section at the Omaka
Cemetery. Reverend McCallum continued to work as a locum for the Presbyterian Church
for some years after his retirement, until finally brought to a halt by ill-heath. He
died in 1927, followed by his wife Janet in 1936.

Gordon McCallum’s bride, Lorrie, for such a short time a
wife, was for a long time a widow. There were no children born of her brief marriage. Always independent, she had her own home on the family farm, where she bred angora rabbits and grew tobacco. In later years she moved into town, where she had a house opposite the RSA rooms.in High Street. Lorrie also served for many years as Motueka's Public Trustee and as the local Registrar between 1930 and 1941.[21] She never remarried, but lived in Motueka,
close to her family, until her death in August, 1958, at the age of 70.

The Memorial Window in the Great Hall at the Canterbury University College (now the Arts Centre)Commemorative bronze plaques listing the names of 235 staff and studentswho lost their lives during WWI were placed beneath the window during restoration work following the Christchurch earthquakes of 2020 and 2011.The Great Hall reopened in June 2016

"Christchurch Press", 25 January 1917.5) Territorials: Motueka Mounted Rifles. "Colonist" 16 December, 1910.An account of the last training camp held by the Motueka Mounted Rifles as a volunteer unit shows that John McCallum was established in Motueka by December, 1910. The Miss Batchelor contributing to the public concert held as part of the proceedings was almost certainly Lorrie.

1) Those who had trained with the 10th (Nelson) Mounted Rifles Regiment of the Territorial Force before war broke out generally chose to enlist with its equivalent within the NZ Expeditionary Force - the 10th (Nelson) Squadron of the
Canterbury Mounted Rifles Brigade.

2) The newspaper article reprising Gordon McCallum's account of the 10th (Nelson) Squadron's activities at Gallipoli calls him "Captain McCallum." This is a reference to his former rank in the Territorials. Until he joined the Imperial Camel Corps he held the rank of lieutenant in the Canterbury Mounted Rifles Brigade. Representations to have him made up to captain much earlier, before he even left New Zealand with the NZEF, appear to have been stymied by military bureaucracy - it was unusual for the commanding officer of a squadron not to hold a rank higher than lieutenant.3) There seemed to be some confusion in newspaper reports about the actual date of Captain McCallum's death, but contemporary accounts are clear that he was wounded on the 9th and died on the 11th of January, 1917.4) It was standard practice for cavalry regiments while in the field to set up a Depot Squadron which stayed behind to take charge of munitions, supplies and remounts and maintain a base where men and animals could be rested and treated, equipment repaired etc.5) Lockhart D. Easton, founder of Motueka law firm, Easton & Nicholson, (see entry in the 'Cyclopedia of NZ: Motueka") was also a Scotsman and son of well-known Presbyterian preacher and writer Matthew George Easton. The McCallums and Eastons knew each other from the days when Lockhart Easton had been headmaster of Sydenham Public School in Christchurch and possibly a member of Reverend McCallum's congregation.Two of Lockhart Easton's sons by his second marriage to Elizabeth (nee Boult), William and Matthew, served during the First World War and both returned. William, who served with the Sixth Reinforcements, Canterbury Mounted Rifles, was probably a fellow member of the Motueka Mounted Rifles. Matthew, who served with the Engineers of the Eighth Reinforcements, attended Canterbury College at the same time as Gordon McCallum. In 1917, brothers William and Matthew Easton were each awarded the Military Medal for gallantry in the field. An older son from Lockhart Easton's first marriage to Catharine (nee Hill), Lockhart Jnr, served with the Australian Imperial Army and also survived the war.

Reverend Neil McCallum and his first wife, Janet Scott Moffatt. Possibly taken on the occasion of their wedding at Edinburgh on 30 July, 1872.Moffat family collection - Ancestry.comMen of the Motueka Mounted Rifles outside the Nelson Provincial BuildingsTyree Studio Collection/Nelson Provincial Museum Permanent Collection, ref. 180644Corporal Arthur Lake Batchelor (1889-1917)Tyree Studio Collection/ Nelson Provincial Museum Permanent Collection, ref. 84475Lorrie Batchelor (1887-1958), believed to have been taken on her wedding day.Courtesy Mr W.S. McCallumThe Battle of Chunuk Bair, 8 August,1915. Painting by Ion G. Brown, official artist of the NZ Defence Force from 1987-1997NZ History website - NZ Ministry for Heritage and Culture.Officers of the 15th (NZ) Company of the Imperial Camel Corps Captain John Gordon McCallum seated at centre.Photographer: Colonel C.G. Powles (NZETC)Imperial Camel Corps at the Battle of Magdhaba. Painting by Harold Septimus Power, a NZ-born artist appointed official war artist for the Australian Imperial Force during WWINZ History website - NZ Ministry for Heritage and Culture.Camel Corps Memorial in LondonNZ History website - NZ Ministry for Heritage and Culture.The charge by the NZ Mounted Rifles which won the day at the Battle of Rafah.Photographer: Colonel C.G. PowlesNZ Mounted Rifles Association website.

About Me

"What is history but a fable agreed upon?", asked Napoleon.
I have an abiding fascination with history in all its forms, including historical fiction. My name is Anne McFadgen and I live at Ngatimoti, in the Motueka Valley. Under my nom de 'net, "Annis", I've written quite a few reviews for historical novels and the odd article under my own name.
I live close to our local WWI war memorial and as the centenary of WWI approaches, I've been working on a collaborative project with Ngatimoti historian, Ed Stevens, to retrieve some detail about the lives of the men on the Ngatimoti Memorial who served in the Great War, but have become lost in time.